The Perfect Shot

No 37. Plymouth Argyle August 10, 1926

Plymouth Argyle coach Tommy Haynes is the policeman in this light-hearted pre-season photo from 1926. The club had finished runners-up in Division Three South for a fifth year in a row, when only the champions moved up. Insiders were concerned enough to actively consider switching their kit from green to blue, but in the event nothing changed and Argyle finished second, yet again.

Inside-left Jack Leslie (fifth from left) played in all six runners-up seasons. Raised in east London by a Jamaican father and English mother, he trained as a boilermaker and played for Barking Town. Argyle boss Bob Jack seduced Leslie to sign with picture postcards of Plymouth Hoe. Leslie recalls: “A number of London clubs were interested in me. Argyle offered ten shillings a week more and the idea of living by the sea appealed to me.”

The most contentious event in Leslie’s career occurred in 1925. On October 6, his name was published as a reserve in the England squad to play Ireland. Ten days later the team was confirmed, along with two reserves. Neither were Leslie. No reason was given by the selection committee, but something had clearly changed. He mused: “I did hear, roundabout like, that the FA had come to have another look at me. Not at my football but at my face.”

Leslie went on to play 400 times in a 13-year Argyle career. They were eventually promoted in 1930, celebrating with the presentation of a giant pasty at Home Park. Leslie was made club captain the following season. Despite his acclaim he was never again called up by England. In 1933 a ball lace caught him in the eye damaging his cornea, effectively ending his career. Returning to London, Leslie worked on boilers again before becoming boot man at West Ham in 1967 . “Turns out, we should have been shining his boots,” said Harry Redknapp on hearing Leslie’s back story. In 2022 the FA righted their historical wrongdoing when Leslie’s granddaughters were presented with an honorary England cap by Viv Anderson. Doug Cheeseman